What I’m Up To This Summer

According to the unwavering reliability of my Apple Weather app, the sun rose today at approximately 05:53am. Aside from the fact that this makes waking up infinitely more bearable, it also means something much more important. Drum roll please…

…SUMMER IS ON THE WAY!

Now, I don’t want to celebrate too early - what with April showers and all that - but as Keiran gleefully announced this morning, temperatures of 18 and 19 degrees are within our grasp and that means the hedonistic abandon of balmy evenings and one too many ciders is no longer a whisper of a dream remembered over hot soup. We’re going to be able to wear shorts!! And Birkenstocks!! And insist we don’t need suncream before inevitably getting burnt!! It’s so close we can feel it!!

I had the best summer of my life last year, and 2018 is shaping up to be even better. We booked our first event before we’d even finished our last in the August just gone, and through a flurry of work and wet weather and peculiarly frequent snow, winter has zoomed by and our window of happiness is peeping over the horizon. I’m not saying I ~ hate ~ winter, but if anything makes me feel like a bag of soggy potatoes with no real feeling of joy or hope, then the colder months are it (slightly hyperbolic, but you know me).

So what have we got coming up? Being the meddlesome oversharer that I am, I thought you might like to know what we’ll be keeping ourselves busy with this year. Perhaps you want to pinch some ideas and party it up, or maybe you’re looking for some fancy Air B’n’B recommendations - I can’t guarantee you'll find either here, but what I can promise you is a further 600 or so words of vaguely interesting information, all of which is sure to keep you occupied on your fifth toilet break of the morning. Don’t say I don’t treat ya.

P.S. None of this is sponsored or affiliated in any way, but I've linked through to the event/hotel websites so you can do some snooping of your own if you're interested.

THE LOOK

May

Next were kind enough to invite me along for a press trip in the Cotswolds last November, and to celebrate Keiran’s football season coming to an end (we can get pissed on a Friday night again! Hallelujah!), I wanted to book a mini staycation to mark the start of our summer. As is always the case for me, I spent hours scouring the web before I ultimately opted for the place I’d visited before - The Fish Hotel in Broadway. We booked one of the Hilly Huts by recommendation of the queen Callie Thorpe, and we plan to spend two days sleeping, eating, sleeping and eating in the hot tub, and then sleeping some more.

Steelyard marked the start of festival season for us last year, and we're heading back at the end of May with a big group of friends to kick it all off again. Taking place over the Bank Holiday weekend, we've booked two Airbnbs within walking distance of each other and Finsbury Park, all in prep for two days of denim dungarees, ciders in the sun and inevitably-needed greasy spoon breakfasts.

June

Italy Train-Trip

The last time I went on a 'big' holiday (anything longer than a two day mini-break, that is) was when I was 17, and myself, my brother and our three best friends spent a week in Torrevieja getting absolutely shit-faced and arguing with each other in the street. Whilst I will undoubtedly be over-indulging on wine this June, our train trip around Italy will hopefully be a little more bougie than Brits Abroad. We're flying into Milan on the Monday 4th, before travelling around to Lake Garda, Venice, Florence, Rome and finally - of course - Positano. Our two friends are joining us for the first week, and then my brother is flying out to make our crew up to 5 for the remainder. Will I have turned into a ravioli square by the time I return? There's only one way to find out.

It's a tale as old as time: see your favourite band hasn't released any dates for the UK, book the one you think sounds the coolest, and then upside down smile with totally non-existent acknowledgement as every date in Britain gets announced a week later. I mean, it's totally fine, it's whatever. With that being said, I've never visited Copenhagen before and so many people have raved about how cool this Scandi city is, so I'm excited to be spending a few days exploring the canals to the backdrop of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Must. Not. Become. Too. Obsessed. With. Alex. Turner.

July

If you're new here, you may not know that my capacity for fangirling recently reached 100% capacity when I glimpsed SZA's name as a special guest on the Lovebox line-up. Keir and I went together last year to see Frank Ocean, and after having the best weekend ever, I was desperate to bag tickets for this year's rendition of the London festival. When Childish Gambino and N.E.R.D. were announced as the headliners I was already sold, but then my gal swooped in with a special guest feature and I literally screamed with excitement (I was in the ASOS showroom at the time, so I have witnesses). A couple of our friends are joining us this year and I can't wait; I'm also looking forward to seeing Kali Uchis and Mura Masa.

A romantic break, destination TBC

Keiran's football season starts again in August, so we've decided we want to see off the summer with a little romantic getaway, location TBC. This is where you guys come in - we need suggestions! We're liking the idea of Tuscany, Provence or something similar; think sun, some beautiful countryside, a quiet pool to chill out by and some nearby towns or cities for exploring. We'll have done our busy two weeks in Italy and undoubtedly booked some other last-minute festivals, so this little break will be dedicated to relaxing and smooching and endless foot rubs (me, obv). If you have any recommendations, give your girl a shout.